Although you may associate Italian vehicles out of Monza that have the ability to go from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.5 seconds with a sleek sports car, it is unlikely that you’d think of. . .a pickup truck.
What to drive over the Alps: the MILITEM MAGNUM 700 (Image: MILITEM)
Yet that’s precisely what the MILITEM MAGNUM 700 is.
In fact, the vehicle is based on a Ram 1500 Night Edition and it has a 6.2-liter 702-hp HEMI under its hood.
Evidently, the people at MILITEM have done some modifications, like adding forged wheels and modifying the suspension.
There is also something called the “MAGNUM BAR” (the company is clearly big on capital letters), which is described as “an exclusive roll bar. . .equipped with a retractable light bar with automatic LED lights” which “awards personality, style and function to the vehicle, making it even more distinctive in practicality and design.”
Somehow “practicality” is something not necessarily associated with this European variant of a Ram TRX.
Sometime there are survey results that seem reasonable and some that make you wonder, like a sampling of findings of “driving incidents” (including accidents, DUIs, speeding, and citations) that were codified using QuoteWizard by LendingTree insurance quote data.
For example, it determined that Ram drivers had 32.90 driving incidents per 1,000 drivers, which makes them “the worst drivers.” And Ram drivers in Massachusetts are particularly bad: 64.44 incidents per 1,000 drivers. Ram drivers have the dubious distinction of being the worst drivers in 23 states, followed by Tesla drivers, who took the lead in 11 states.
Tesla drivers overall, incidentally, were second to Ram. They had 31.13 incidents per 1,000, although they took the lead in the specific accidents category, with 23.54 accidents per 1,000 drivers, besting (?) Ram, which was at 22.76 accidents per 1,000 drivers.
But here’s something curious: The third overall worst drivers were piloting Subarus. They had 30.09 driving incidents per 1,000.
Only Ram, Tesla and Subaru were above 30.00 in the overall incidents category.
In addition, Subaru was also third in accidents per 1,000 drivers, with 20.90.
Again, those three brands are the only ones of the 30 surveyed that were above 20.00.
Subaru? Ram and Tesla are not necessarily unexpected, but Subaru drivers might seem benign—unless they live in California where Suburb drivers racked up 57.66 incidents per 1,000
What do drivers drive that had the least number of driving incidents? Mercury. It was at 15.82 incidents per 1,000 drivers. Given that Mercurys stopped being built in 2011, thereby making those that exist somewhat vintage, might mean that the drivers are exceedingly. . .careful.
The first half (H1) 2023 results for FCA US LLC—that part of Stellantis that is often referred to by the shorthand “Chrysler”—are out.
And look odd.
It is generally considered to be the case that the real U.S. crown jewels that the company based in the Netherlands obtained when Fiat and PSA merged were Jeep and Ram, the brands that don’t offer things that in any way, shape or form resemble cars.
For the U.S. sales for the first half of 2023 there is only one Jeep model that has actually had greater sales compared with H1 2022, the Compass. And arguably the Compass is, by and large, the least Jeep-like Jeep of all Jeeps in the showroom.
Wrangler sales are off by 15% and the Grand Cherokee is down 7%. Those two vehicles are essentially the bookends of the brand.
There was great hope for the Wagoneer and the considerably more expensive Grand Wagoneer, but they are off 21% and 26%, respectively.
An argument could be made that Jeep had the segment to itself for a long, long time and now things like the Bronco Sport and Bronco are taking away sales. Which could, indeed, be the case because for H1 Bronco Sport is up 7.8% and Bronco 6.8%.
Another thing might be that post-pandemic the whole “overlanding” phenomenon is waning and those who are more likely to use their Wranglers as Wranglers are still buying Wranglers and the rest have moved on to something else.
As for the Grand Cherokee, it is possible that some of its sales have gone to the Dodge Durango. Its sales for H1 are up 82%. Realize that there are plenty of dealerships that have Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, and Dodge under the same roof, so someone shopping could easily see a Durango and opt for it because, say, a Grand Cherokee with the sought configuration isn’t available.
Overall Jeep brand sales are off by 12% compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, over at Ram, it is only off 2%–but it would seem that it should be up.
For example, Ford truck sales are up 23.1%. GM also shows black ink for truck sales, with all flavors of Silverado being up 1.6% in H1 and the Sierra portfolio up 20.2%.
What is strange about the Ram numbers is that the Ram pickup is down 9% for H1 and the only reason why the brand isn’t down more is because the two commercial trucks on offer—the ProMaster Van and the ProMaster City—are both up, 50% for the Van and 70% for the City.
As for the other FCA US brands, that Durango has really boosted Dodge H1 results: up 31%.
Even Chrysler brand is up 23% thanks entirely to the Pacifica minivan, which is up 26%. The only other vehicle in the Chrysler showroom is the 300, which is (a) down 5% for H1. And given that for the first half there were 73,845 Pacificas sold and 7,197 300s. . .well, it makes one wonder about the on-going value of the Chrysler brand.
So maybe a few years from now that shorthand identifier for the company will be something else. But what that is isn’t entirely clear at this point.
Kelley Blue Book puts together an interesting study on what people are interested in by examining what they are searching for automotive-wise both on desktops and mobile.
For Q1 22 in the non-luxury space the number-one brand is Toyota, with 34% brand consideration. In Q4 21 it was Ford on top. They’ve switched places. Ford is at 32%. Chevy is on the rise because in Q4 it was at 25% but has risen by five percentage points.
What is somewhat sad is Fiat, which was at 0% in Q4 and is at 0% in Q1.
And just above it are Mitsubishi and MINI, both at 1%, which is where they were last quarter, too.
Perhaps people just know all they need to about those brands.
Ram Laramie 1500: Imposing and comfortable. (Image: Ram)
KBB slices, dices and rices data in various ways. Like looking at four categories: SUVs, Cars, Pickups, and Minivans.
The top SUV is the Honda CR-V (besting the Tahoe, Durango, RAV4 and Highlander).
The #1 car is the Honda Accord, edging out the Civic (sibling rivalry). The Camry, Charger and Challenger follow.
In Pickups it is the Silverado 1500, followed by the F-150, F-250/F-350/F-450, the Silverado 2500/3500 HD, and the Tacoma.
In Minivans it is the Sienna followed by the Odyssey, Pacifica, Pacifica Hybrid and Voyager.
Of those categories, 66% looked at SUVs, 37% Cars, 35% Pickups, and 5% Minivans.
Perhaps there is some life in Cars, although the considerations were down 31% in the last quarter and 33% in the last year, so clearly things aren’t moving in the right direction.
Another potentially encouraging sign for Cars is that in the top 10 models considered, there are three Cars on the list (Accord, Civic and Camry), which is the number of SUVs on the list (CR-V, Tahoe, Durango).
What are the top three factors driving consideration?
Durability/reliability is in the top spot, which is not a surprise, nor is the fact that Toyota is the one that takes it.
Second is safety, and while you might imagine that would be Volvo, Subaru is actually in that position.
And third is driving comfort. This is taken by Ram. Who would have thought that a pickup truck would win the comfort honors?
When Santa arrives at his destination at Macy’s on West 34th at Herald Square, his sleigh will have traveled the 2.5-mile route down Central Park West to Columbus Circle to Central Park South then 6th Avenue to West 34th to the end, he will have been pulled not by reindeer (after all, the sleigh is earth-bound, not in the air) by a Ram 1500 Limited (RAM)RED Edition.
Propelling Santa through NYC. (Image: Ram)
That’s right: Not Rudolph, but Ram.
Ram is the Official Truck of the 95th Macy’s’ Thanksgiving Day Parade and Ram trucks will tow all of the floats, as it has done for the previous six years.
It is worth knowing that Ram Trucks, along with partner brands Jeep and FIAT, have committed a minimum of $4-million between 2021 and 2023 to the Global Fund to help fight health emergencies with (RED).
(RED), established in 2006, has funded HIV/AIDS programs. It is now expanding to help deal with the COVID 19 pandemic.
That’s what the Ram folks call the TRX. A bit of a dig at the Ford Raptor, of course. The TRX is being judged in Croatia.
By Gary S. Vasilash
The Ram 1500 TRX is a half-ton pickup with a 702-hp, 6.2-liter HEMI V8 under its hood.
It has a top speed of 118 mph and goes from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds
This is a truck.
The Ram 1500 TRX. Yes, it is a daily driver, too. (Image: Ram)
A big truck.
As in being 232.9 inches long, 88 inches wide and 80.9 inches high.
You’re not going to see that HEMI without a step ladder.
It has a 5-foot, 7-inch box on the back. You’re going to want to make sure that things in the TRX are tied down because there are those inertial forces.
Although the interior of the vehicle—both in terms of materials and tech—are nothing short of first class. Yet one of the development goals of the Ram team was to develop the “quickest, fastest and most powerful mass-produced truck in the world,” one that can handle off-road and on-road demands with solid performance.
While the truck has been available in the U.S. for about a year now, it made its way to Europe in July.
And today (October 5) it is in Croatia, where it will be judged as part of the 2022 IPUA—International Pick Up Award.
Somehow it is hard to imagine anything less European than the TRX.
Still, it is so over-the-top (and capable, too) that its odds are probably very good.
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